Welcome our 2022-2023 Ultrasound Fellows

Akash Desai, MD


I am a Bay Area native who completed my undergraduate studies at UCLA in Psychobiology (Go Bruins!), medical school at Keck USC, and emergency medicine residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. In my two gap years between college and medical school, I returned to the Bay to research the neurological implications of HIV at the Memory and Aging Center at UCSF. My professional interests include Emergency Ultrasound (duh), the intersection of ultrasound with International/Global Health and medical education, and the application of regional anesthesia in emergency medicine. My personal interests include DJing, discussing philosophy, exploring nature, and learning how to maintain physical and mental fitness (i.e. “wellness”) in day-to-day life. I have an identical twin brother Sagar who graduated medical school at UCSF in 2020, so if you think you’re seeing double, you just might be!”

Kaitlen Howell, MD


I am from Tennessee where I studied biology and German at Middle Tennessee State University.  After a Fulbright scholarship in Germany evaluating neurologic outcomes after cardiac arrest, I attended Harvard Medical School where the snow and cold taught me how much I need sunshine!  I fell in love with Highland during my subinternship rotation and am thankful to have been able to complete residency here.  My clinical passions are point-of-care ultrasound (especially for vascular access and echocardiography), on-shift teaching, and learning the finer points of EKGs.  Outside of work I enjoy growing unusual fruits, learning about other people’s experiences, and watching sci-fi.  I used to draw and write poetry and hope to pick those back up during fellowship.